Chapter 23: Besieged by Fans, Passions Run High

"All the payment registrations are complete on this side. Chu Qing, why don't you skip the regular dormitory and come live with me at Professor Qian's research institute? Didn't you hear his introduction? There's a private house with its own courtyard. You could even take a position on this project," Chao Ge said, his arm draped over Chu Qing's shoulders, persuading her to stay with him at Professor Qian's place.

Catching Lin Qingyun's eye over Chu Qing's head, Chao Ge gave him a reassuring look.

Lin Qingyun understood perfectly—Chao Ge was still worried about Chu Qing and wanted to keep a close eye on her, making sure this double agent didn't do anything against him.

"Lin Qingyun, I never thought you'd be this shameless. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be at Haicheng University. You're not welcome here, get out now!"

At that moment, the crowd parted as Li Daoze, Mao Yiqiang, and others walked over.

Li Daoze seized the initiative. As soon as the crowd split, he locked his gaze on Lin Qingyun and immediately exploded with anger.

All the rage he'd been bottling up these past days burst out in that instant.

The previously bustling crowd fell silent at his furious outcry. Not only did the alchemy department's area quiet down, but even new students reporting to the combat tactics and formation departments nearby turned to look.

"Li Daoze, who do you think you are, shouting like that?" Chao Ge, ever the firebrand, charged forward as soon as he saw Li Daoze step out.

"Step aside, this doesn't concern you. Lin Qingyun, did you hear me..." Li Daoze didn't want to waste words on Chao Ge, brushing him off and turning back to Lin Qingyun.

"Hear what, hear you barking like a dog? I think you haven't learned your lesson yet. Eat a hundred beans and you still don't find them fishy? Forgotten your pain already? Get out. Show me how you’d get out," Lin Qingyun's smile vanished, his gaze turning cold as he stared at Li Daoze.

"Damn, this guy's got a sharp tongue. If it weren't for school rules, I'd have smacked him already," Mao Yiqiang muttered, glaring at Lin Qingyun without flinching.

Hatred surged in Li Daoze's heart. "Lin Qingyun, you abuse your power, act arrogantly and tyrannically. I let things slide because we’re classmates, but I never thought you’d stoop so low..."

So soon... here it comes!

Just as Lin Qingyun wondered how Li Daoze, undeterred by previous beatings, found the nerve to challenge him again, he immediately understood.

The relationship between the Lin and Nangong families wasn’t exactly a secret among the upper echelons—especially since Desert Wind King Nangong Aos was persuaded by Lin Qingyun's father to join the Huaxia Alliance. With that connection, it wasn’t hard for others to guess that the person Nangong Lingyue mentioned was Lin Qingyun.

Even if some didn’t suspect, Lin Qingyun was sure that Zhang Xueyi and Zhang Baole would actively spread the news.

So, when he asked Nangong Lingyue to cooperate with him, he’d already anticipated this, though he hadn’t expected the reveal to come not as viral news but as a direct confrontation from Li Daoze.

Looking past Li Daoze and his group, he spotted Zheng Haoyue at the back, watching the scene with a playful, amused smile.

"I'm not here for myself today. As a fan of Nangong Lingyue, I must seek justice for her. What era are we in? Do you think it's still ancient feudal times with arranged marriages? You actually used your parents' past favor toward the Nangong family to blackmail Nangong Lingyue into marrying you. Have you no shame?"

As Lin Qingyun expected, after accusing him of being that kind of person, Li Daoze immediately invoked Nangong Lingyue, claiming to be her fan as a shield.

Though he sought revenge and support from Zheng Haoyue, Li Daoze dared not mention his personal grudge with Lin Qingyun directly, nor make it the pretext for this showdown—Lin Qingyun’s ruthlessness had left him with a psychological scar.

A roar went up from the crowd—what had seemed like a private dispute now became something else entirely. Most people had been watching out of curiosity, indifferent even if a fight broke out.

But when Li Daoze said this, everything changed.

Nangong Lingyue might be a wildly popular influencer across all ages, but her core fans were mostly young people, especially here at Haicheng University, since everyone already knew she’d be attending.

Among the surrounding crowd, at least one in every three or five was a fan of hers—mostly male.

"The guy forcing Nangong Lingyue to marry him is actually here? What’s his name again...?"

"Oh, it’s Lin Qingyun. I know him—he’s the eldest son of Lin Pharmaceuticals, the one who trended recently for hitting someone at an auction..."

"Total spoiled brat. In this day and age, who still forces Moon to marry him? Shameless..."

"How did someone like him get into our university? Didn’t he drop out of high school? Get out, he doesn’t belong here..."

"He dares force our Princess Lingyue into marriage? Absolute scum..."

As Li Daoze finished steering the conversation, the crowd erupted. Lin Qingyun might not be as famous as Nangong Lingyue, but his recent scandals were well-known, and it didn’t surprise anyone that a privileged playboy would do something like this.

Shouts and curses filled the air, the crowd around them growing thicker.

"Damn it, how did he find out..." Chao Ge grew nervous. She hadn’t expected Li Daoze to know, let alone announce it here, stirring up the crowd.

She cursed under her breath and glanced at Lin Qingyun.

Chu Qing was also visibly anxious.

But Lin Qingyun, as Li Daoze picked a fight, calmly picked up a bottle of water and drank. While Chao Ge and Chu Qing grew tense, he seemed completely at ease.

A crowd of riled-up students was nothing to him—even if hundreds or thousands of crazed beasts charged at him, he’d remain cool. After weathering true tempests, why be moved by this shallow commotion, especially when he’d orchestrated it himself?

One bottle... two bottles...

Lin Qingyun kept drinking, draining several bottles in quick succession.

"Is he nervous?" Zheng Haoyue, watching from afar, smiled, already scheming. If someone like Lin Qingyun controlled Lin Pharmaceuticals’ shares, it’d be much easier to undermine or infiltrate the company.

The Zheng family’s Tiangang Group was formidable, even outmatching Lin Pharmaceuticals overall. Yet in the realm of elixirs, especially on a national and global scale, they couldn’t compare. If she could grab leverage over Lin Qingyun—just a small stake, combined with Tiangang’s power—she could push their elixir business to new heights and perhaps secure her inheritance.

"Ha! See that? Exposed and cursed by everyone, now he’s so nervous he’s chugging water!" Mao Yiqiang, standing by Li Daoze, laughed loudly, pointing at Lin Qingyun.

Li Daoze, too, could hardly contain his glee, wanting to laugh out loud, but he knew the time wasn’t right. He had to press the advantage, crush Lin Qingyun, reclaim his dignity, and show Zheng Haoyue that he wasn’t so easily defeated.

"Lin Qingyun, do you see? Do you hear? Isn’t what you’ve done enough to enrage the gods and the people? Using your family’s wealth and power to force someone into marriage—what won’t you do?"

"I went to school with you, and people like you disgust me. As a new student at Haicheng University, I say you’re not welcome here. Your presence is a stain on this sacred place..."

"Nangong Lingyue will be joining us this year. As her classmates, shouldn’t we seek justice for her? Shouldn’t we support her and never let you succeed?"

With Lin Qingyun silent, the crowd’s condemnation grew louder. Emboldened, Li Daoze seized the moment, fanning the flames.

Though he tried to mask his hatred, speaking as a fan defending Nangong Lingyue, his words still betrayed his desire to see Lin Qingyun expelled.

After being crushed by Lin Qingyun days earlier, his pride trampled, this was his chance to restore it.

Influenced by Li Daoze’s lead, even those who weren’t fans began to point fingers, convinced that in the twenty-second century, anyone who forced a marriage like this must be rotten to the core.

"Kick him out of Haicheng University!"

"If it weren’t for the no-fighting rule, I’d teach him a lesson today..."

"This is infuriating—I’d love to rough him up..."

"Just wait, when this gets out, some rabid fan will take care of him..."

The crowd’s excitement grew. At this age, it was easy to be swept up in righteous fury, and with so many fans and Li Daoze stirring things up, more and more people pressed in around Lin Qingyun.

"Enough!" Suddenly, Lin Qingyun, who had been silently drinking water, finally spoke. This was no ordinary shout.

Channeling his own spiritual power, he used the Dragon Chant—a high-level sonic technique of astonishing power. At the instant he unleashed it, the water he’d just swallowed erupted from his mouth like a water tornado.

The water acted as an amplifier, and his single word exploded through the air. Within a hundred meters, anyone without a solid foundation in spiritual cultivation felt their vision darken, nearly fainting.

Even those with some cultivation, if not at an advanced level, saw stars. Such was its power—and this was Lin Qingyun deliberately dispersing the effect, not targeting any individual, or the damage could have been devastating.

The voice was terrifying enough, but the water, blasting out, crashed directly onto Li Daoze, Mao Yiqiang, and their group.